From Limelife
Nicholas Sparks fans will probably like it.
In his new movie 'Water for Elephants,' Robert Pattinson works magic with animals. If only some of that magic could have been transferred to the screen. Reviews for the new film are in, and critics are largely unimpressed.
Presented as a flashback from a 90 year-old man, the film follows Jacob Jankowski (Pattinson), a young man who finds himself on a train with a famous circus, the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
Working as veterinarian to the show's animals, he falls for the beautiful horse rider Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), and butts heads with her villainous husband, animal trainer August (Christoph Waltz).
So far, critics have not been mesmerized by the greatest show on Earth, with much of the criticism falling on - gasp! - the chemistry between Pattinson and Witherspoon.
David Germain of the Associated Press says the film's stars "are a three-ring snooze-fest together, bringing little passion to a love story supposedly so fiery, it blows the roof off the big top."
Read Sara Gruen's book? Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter says the film "will please fans of the best seller, but it lacks the vital spark that would have made the drama truly compelling on the screen."
Some critics, however, were more than happy with the film's romantic adventure.
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune was reminded of a different cinematic tear-jerker: "Like 'The Notebook,' but with an elephant, the unexpectedly good film version of 'Water for Elephants' elevates pure corn to a completely satisfying realm of romantic melodrama."
From Variety
In an extravagant gamble worthy of the fictional Benzini Brothers Circus itself, Fox gives Sara Gruen’s grassroots bestseller “Water for Elephants” the glossy, big-budget treatment fans crave, counting on adult women — plus a younger female contingent keen on seeing “Twilight” heartthrob Robert Pattinson paired with sweet-as-pie Reese Witherspoon — to prop up a production with a cost apparently on par with a small tentpole. Unlike the story’s colorful gang of roustabouts, who dismiss ticket buyers as “rubes,” the filmmakers clearly value their public, crafting a splendid period swooner that delivers classic romance and an indelible insider’s view of 1930s circus life.
A present-day prologue finds nursing-home escapee Jacob Jankowski (played with endearing mock surliness by Hal Holbrook) reminiscing about his tenure under the big top. Taken in by a young circus worker (Paul Schneider) and then encouraged to share his story, Jacob proceeds to explain how a family tragedy on the eve of vet-school exams spared the would-be Cornell grad a predictable life, and led to his hitching a ride with the Benzini Brothers’ traveling show instead.
Transitioning smoothly back to the character’s spring awakening, director Francis Lawrence suggests how robust and alive Jacob’s memories have remained all these years, faithfully recreating the initial disorientation and awe the young Polish-American experienced upon first encountering the circus. Looking far more handsome than Holbrook ever did, Pattinson brings the same sullen sensitivity to 23-year-old Jacob that he has to the “Twilight” pics — perfectly fitting for an overnight orphan so recently derailed from his intended life path.
…
It’s an intoxicating place to be, reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s breathless dark-carnival tale “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” Considering the unassuming roots of the book on which “Water for Elephants” is based, along with its misfit-focused subject, there’s no small irony that the pic should attract such a first-choice roster of collaborators: From dream-cast headliners Pattinson, Witherspoon and Waltz all the way down the line to d.p. Roberto Prieto, composer James Newton Howard (whose rich orchestral score sadly lacks a clear theme) and production designer Jack Fisk, the show is strictly A-list.
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